All-digital phase-locked loop

ABSTRACT

For decreasing errors within an analog phase-locked loop, an all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) with only digital components and digital operations is used. The ADPLL may also be used for direct frequency modulation (DFM). By modulating certain parameters within the ADPLL by following an all-pass frequency response, a loop gain of the ADPLL may be precisely modulated, and an available bandwidth of the ADPLL is also significantly broadened.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional ApplicationsNo. 60/980,172, filed on Oct. 16, 2007 and 60/980,461, filed on Oct. 17,2007, which is included herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an all-digital phase-locked loop(ADPLL), and more particularly, to an ADPLL for dynamic frequencymodulation (DFM).

2. Description of the Prior Art

A phase-locked loop (PLL) is an electronic control system that generatesa signal that has a fixed relation to the phase of a reference signal. Aphase-locked loop circuit responds to both the frequency and the phaseof the input signals, and automatically raises or lowers the frequencyof a controlled oscillator until it is matched to the reference signalin both frequency and phase. A conventional analog PLL includes a phasedetector, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), and a feedback path forfeeding output signals of the VCO back to an input terminal of the phasedetector so as to raise or lower a frequency of input signals of theanalog PLL. Therefore, the frequency of the analog PLL may always catchup with a reference frequency of a reference signal applied by the phasedetector, i.e., the frequency of the input signals of the analog PLL isalways locked by the reference frequency of the reference signal.Moreover, a frequency divider is conventionally applied on the feedbackpath so that multiples of the reference frequency may always beretrieved. A low-pass filter is conventionally connected after the phasedetector so that noises staying at higher frequencies may thus befiltered.

As known by those skilled in the art, the analog PLL easily has errors(or even error propagation) since said analog PLL uses analog operationsand analog elements. Therefore, digital phase-locked loops (DPLL), whichutilize a counter with a variable divisor on the feedback path, areproposed for relieving the errors with the partial aid of digitaloperations and digital elements, and moreover, an all-digitalphase-locked loop (ADPLL) may significantly helps in area reduction andprocess migration. For example, a digital-controlled oscillator (DCO)may be used for in replace of the conventionally used VCO, which is ananalog element. A phase detector may also be replaced with atime-to-digital converter. Therefore, the usage of the ADPLL is becominga trend in radio communications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The claimed invention discloses an all-digital phase-locked loop(ADPLL). The ADPLL comprises a first accumulator having an inputterminal for receiving a modulation signal; an ACC amplifier having aninput terminal coupled to an output terminal of the first accumulator;and a MOD amplifier having an input terminal for receiving themodulation signal. The ADPLL is used for direct-frequency modulation(DFM).

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an ADPLL disclosed in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a DFM ADPLL based on the ADPLL disclosed in FIG.1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram of the DCO illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2and proposed in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a cell of a conventional tracking tank.

FIG. 5 is a plot of a voltage-frequency transfer curve related to thecell of the conventional tracking tank illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a detailed diagram of a cell of the tracking tank illustratedin FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a plot of a folded voltage-frequency transfer curve related tothe cell f the tracking tank illustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a simplified diagram of the ADPLL shown in FIG. 1 forexplaining the digital loop bandwidth calibration of said ADPLL.

FIG. 9 is a simplified diagram in explaining how conventional fractionalphase errors of a conventional analog PLL are compensated.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a digital phase error cancellation modulefurther included in the SDM compensation module shown in FIG. 1according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 illustrates a simplified diagram of the PFD/CTDC module shown inFIG. 1 along with the TDC decoder and the first adder shown in FIG. 1while the loop gain calibration described in FIG. 8 is performed.

FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic diagram of a cyclic time-to-digitalconverter (CTDC) used in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 illustrates a CTDC calibration procedure related to both FIG. 11and FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention discloses an ADPLL for Dynamic FrequencyModulation (DFM) with fine gain calibration, where the disclosed ADPLLuses some newly-proposed elements and techniques herein. With the aid ofthe disclosed ADPLL, switching noises may be significantly reduced, anda loop gain of the ADPLL may also be precisely and finely tuned.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a diagram of an ADPLL 100 disclosed inthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, ADPLL 100 includes atime-to-digital converter (TDC) module 102, a digital macro module 120,a digital-controlled oscillator (DCO)/sigma-delta modulator (SDM) module110, and a feedback path module 112. The TDC module 102 includes aphase-frequency detector/cyclic time-to-digital converter (PFD/CTDC)module 1021 and a TDC state machine (TDC_SM) 1023. Though a cyclic TDCis employed in the embodiments hereinafter, any type of TDC may beapplied to the invention. The digital macro module 120 includes a TDCdecoder 1022, a first adder 104, a proportional path module 106, adigital low-pass filter (digital LF) 108, a second adder 105, and a SDMcompensation module 114. The proportional path module 106 includes aninfinite impulse response (IIR) module 1061 and a PPM amplifier 1062.Note that a gain of the PPM amplifier 1062 is a. The digital low-passfilter 108 serves as an integral path in the ADPLL 100. The SDMcompensation module 114 includes a first accumulator 1141, a SDMCMamplifier 1142 with a gain b, and a third adder 1143. Note that the SDMcompensation module 114 may also be referred as an error compensationmodule. The DCO/SDM module 110 includes a DCO decoder 1101, a first SDM1102, a SDM filter 1103, a DCO 1104, and a first frequency divider 1105.Note that though a divider of the first frequency divider 1105 used andshown in FIG. 1 is 4, a value of the used divider may be other valuesother than 4 and be used in other embodiments of the present invention.The feedback path module 112 includes a second SDM 1121 and a secondfrequency divider 1112. Note that a divider used in the frequencydivider 1112 is M, which is a variable.

As shown in FIG. 1, the TDC module 102 receives a reference signal REFand a feedback signal FB, and generate a cycle signals C and a datasignal D, both of which carry phase information and frequencyinformation related to the feedback signal FB. Note that the cyclesignal C indicates a currently-used cycle of a cyclic time-to-digitalconverter (CTDC) within the PFD/CTDC module 102. Note that the datasignal D indicates data generated by D flip-flops within the PFD/CTDCmodule 102. Note that the cycle signal C and the data signal D are thendecoded by the TDC decoder 1022 so as to generate an output signal TDCwithin the digital macro module 120, where the output signal TDC alsocarries phase information and frequency information related to thefeedback signal FB. The first adder 104 adds the output signal TDC withthe error signal Error, which is in fact an error compensation signal,for canceling the possible error within the output signal TDC to acertain degree, and outputs a signal X to both the proportional pathmodule 106 and the digital LF 108. Note that a self-test signal Bbcompand a sign signal Lag, which is generated from the PFD/CTDC module 1021,are also added for carrying information about whether to raise or lowera frequency of an output signal of the DCO/SDM module 110. Also notethat the PFD/CTDC module 1021 outputs a clock signal dlyfbclk tomanipulate a built-in clock of the digital macro module 120. The TDCstate machine 1023 also generates a divider signal Divider to carrydivider-related information to the digital macro module 120.

The proportional path module 106 is responsible for tracking variationsof the phase of the signal X, whereas the digital low-pass filter 108,i.e. the integration path, is responsible for tracking long-termfrequency drifts of said signal X. The digital macro module 106 outputsan integer signal Integ and a fractional signal Frac to the DCO/SDMmodule 110.

In the DCO/SDM module 110, the DCO decoder 1101 has a first inputterminal for receiving the integer signal; the first SDM 1102 has afirst input terminal for receiving the fractional signal; the SDM filter1103 has an input terminal coupled to an output terminal of the firstSDM 1102; the DCO 1104 has a first input terminal coupled to an outputterminal of the DCO decoder 1101, and a second input terminal coupled toan output terminal of the SDM filter 1103; and the first frequencydivider 1105 has an input terminal coupled to an output terminal of theDCO 1104, and an output terminal coupled to both a second input terminalof the DCO decoder 1101 and a second input terminal of the first SDM1102. Note that a first loop passing though the DCO decoder 1101, theDCO 1104, and the first frequency divider 1105 is responsible formodulating the integer signal Integ, whereas a second loop passingthrough the first SDM 1102, the SDM filter 1103, the DCO 1104, and thefrequency divider 1105 is responsible for modulating the fractionalsignal Frac.

The feedback path nodule 112 cooperates with the SDM compensation module114, which is included in the digital macro module 120. The seconddivider 1112 is used for dividing the frequency of a signal outputtedfrom the DCO/SDM module 110, and cooperates with the second SDM 1121.The SDM compensation module 114 is utilized for predicting possibleerrors of the signal outputted from the DCO/SDM module 110 and inputtingthe predicted errors, which are carried in the error compensationsignal, into the first adder 104 in a feed-forward manner so that errorsfrom the signal TDC are significantly reduced. Note that the third adder1143 has a positive input terminal coupled to an input terminal of thesecond SDM 1121, a negative input terminal coupled to an output terminalof the second SDM 1121, and an output terminal coupled to an inputterminal of the first accumulator 1141.

Characteristics of a structure of the ADPLL 100 primarily lie in theexistences of the proportional path module 106, the digital low-passfilter 108, and the SDM compensation module 114 since the listedelements are highly related to fine calibration of a loop gain of theADPLL 100. However, all the included elements, modules, and signals aredigital so that the ADPLL 100 is entirely controlled digitally, and as aresult, an accurate bandwidth control is achieved with the aid of theall-digital control mechanism. The ADPLL 100 also works in reducingswitching noises, though detailed techniques will be explained later.

A primary usage of the ADPLL 100 is to implementing an all-digitalarchitecture of direct-frequency modulation (DFM). Please refer to FIG.2, which is a diagram of a DFM ADPLL 200 based on the ADPLL 100disclosed in FIG. 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2,besides the ADPLL 100, a second accumulator 202, a ACC amplifier 204,which cooperates with the second accumulator 202 and uses a same gain bas the SDMCM amplifier 1142, and a MOD amplifier 206, which uses a gainc. A message MSG, which is in fact a modulation signal, is inputted tothe second accumulator 202 and the MOD amplifier 206 so as to be fedinto both the first adder 104 and the second adder 105 in a feed-forwardmanner. Note that a combination of the second accumulator 202 and theACC amplifier 204 acts a low pass filter for the message MSG. Also notethat the MOD amplifier 206 gives a high-pass response to the messageMSG, where a VCO in a conventional PLL gives an upper bound of thefrequency domain of the message MSG, i.e., the VCO acts as a low-passfilter so that the frequency domain of the message MSG is restricted bythe low-pass filter. By combining the abovementioned high-pass andlow-pass responses, an all-pass response may be retrieved so that wideband modulation or independence from a bandwidth of PLL is achieved. Inmanipulating the all-pass response, values of the gains b and c have tobe well adjusted. Note that the purpose of wide-band modulation isachieved since a frequency domain of the message MSG is not restrictedin or related to the DFM ADPLL 200 with the aid of the all-passresponse. A pre-distortion technique used in the conventional PLL fordistorting noises in advance is also avoided in the ADPLL 200 of thepresent invention, where elements for implementing the pre-distortiontechnique conventionally occupy large areas.

The technique in modulating values of the gains b and c is described asfollows. Please refer to FIG. 2, and a loop gain of the DFM ADPLL 200may be derived by using an input response m[n] in the message MSG toderive a corresponding output frequency response V_(out)[n] as an outputresponse at the DCO/SDM module 110. A loop gain of the DFM ADPLL 200 isindicated by

$\frac{V_{out}\lbrack n\rbrack}{m\lbrack n\rbrack},$a response of which is derived as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{V_{out}\lbrack n\rbrack}{m\lbrack n\rbrack} = {\frac{{c \cdot {Kv}} + {b \cdot {L(z)} \cdot {Kv} \cdot \frac{Z^{- 1}}{1 - Z^{- 1}}}}{1 + {\frac{1}{T\; D\;{C \cdot {Fref}^{2}}} \cdot {L(z)} \cdot {Kv} \cdot \frac{1}{M} \cdot \frac{Z^{- 1}}{1 - Z^{- 1}}}} = 1}} & (1)\end{matrix}$while the DFM ADPLL 200 is to be modulated with an all-pass state. Someconditions used in the equation (1) are simply explained as follows. Theterm c·Kv indicates a response of a path including the MOD amplifier 206and the DCO/SDM module 110, where Kv is a gain of the DCO/SDM module110, i.e., a gain of the DCO 1104. The term b·L(z)·Kv·Z⁻¹/1−Z⁻¹indicates a response of a path including a combination of the secondaccumulator 202 and the ACC amplifier 204, the digital low-pass filter108, and the DCO/SDM module 110, where a response of the digitallow-pass filter 108 is L(z). The term

$\frac{1}{T\; D\;{C \cdot {Fref}^{2}}}$is a gain of the TDC module 102, where Fref is a reference frequency ofthe reference signal REF, and TDC indicates a gain of a Cyclic TDCwithin the PFD/CTDC module 1021.

$\frac{1}{M}$is a response of the second frequency divider 1112.

$\frac{Z^{- 1}}{1 - Z^{- 1}}$indicates a frequency response of the DCO 1104 and the ACC amplifier204.

As can be observed from the equation (1), for satisfying the all-passstate, the values of both the gains b and c are derived by the followingequations:

$\begin{matrix}{{c \cdot {Kv}} = 1} & (2) \\{{b \cdot {L(z)} \cdot {Kv} \cdot \frac{Z^{- 1}}{1 - Z^{- 1}}} = {\frac{1}{{TDC} \cdot {Fref}^{2}} \cdot {L(z)} \cdot {Kv} \cdot \frac{1}{M} \cdot \frac{Z^{- 1}}{1 - Z^{- 1}}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$By inductions, the values of both the gains b and c may be indicated asfollows:

$\begin{matrix}{c = \frac{1}{Kv}} & (4) \\{b = {\frac{1}{T\; D\;{C \cdot {Fref}^{2}}} \cdot \frac{1}{M}}} & (5)\end{matrix}$For achieving the aim of the all-digital controlling mechanism, completemanipulations of values of both the gains b and c are necessary. Tomanipulate the gain b, the value of the TDC gain TDC has to becontrollable as well. A definition of the TDC gain TDC is defined as aresolution of the TDC module 102, i.e., a time variance Δt over a codevariance ΔN, so that the TDC gain TDC is derived as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{T\; D\; C} = {\frac{\Delta\; t}{\Delta\; N} = {\frac{\frac{1}{2}{Tref}}{N_{1}} = \frac{1}{2\;{{Fref} \cdot N_{1}}}}}} & (6)\end{matrix}$Note that the code variance N₁ corresponds to a half of a referenceperiod Tref of the reference signal, in which a positive state and anegative state occupy one half of the reference period Tref in turn.With the equation (6), the value of the gain b may be rewritten asfollows:

$\begin{matrix}{b = {{\frac{1}{\frac{1}{2 \cdot {Fref} \cdot N_{1}} \cdot {Fref}^{2}} \cdot \frac{1}{M}} = {\frac{2\; N_{1}}{M} \cdot \frac{1}{Fref}}}} & (7)\end{matrix}$To manipulate the value of the gain c, the DCO gain Kv is required to becontrollable. The DCO gain Kv may be used for deriving the gain c asfollows:

$\begin{matrix}{c = {\frac{1}{Kv} = \frac{\Delta\; I}{\Delta\;{N \cdot {Fref}}}}} & (8)\end{matrix}$The term ΔN·Fref indicates a frequency variance in a signal at the inputterminal of the second SDM 1121, and a code variance ΔI corresponding tothe frequency variance ΔN·Fref is retrieved in the output signal of thedigital low-pass filter 108, where ΔN indicates a fractional codevariance. Since the terms ΔN·Fref and ΔI are controllable, the value ofthe gain c should also be controllable as well. Fine and delicatemodulation of the loop gain of the DFM ADPLL 200 is thus complete.

The DCO 1104 is utilized for tracking a frequency band of an outputsignal of the digital macro module 120 according to both an integersignal and a fractional signal within the output signal. The integersignal is decoded by the DCO decoder 1101, and the fractional signal isretrieved with the aid of both the SDM 1102 and the SDM filter 1103.Operations of both the SDM 1102 and the SDM filter 1103 are similar witha conventional SDM and SDM filter so that the operations are not furtherdescribed. Use of a conventional DCO within embodiments is also intendedto be within the scope of the current disclosure, however the DCO 1104preferably is specifically designed and proposed in the presentinvention for the frequency band tracking and avoiding a significantfrequency discontinuity. Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a detaileddiagram of the DCO 1104 illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and proposed inthe present invention. The DCO 1104 includes an on-chip low-drop-out(LDO) regulator 302, which could be excluded from the DCO if thetargeted application permits, an inductor/resistor module 304 coupled tothe LDO regulator 302, a process/voltage/temperature (PVT) tank 306coupled to the inductor/resistor set 304, an acquisition tank (ACQ) 308coupled to the PVT tank 306, and a tracking tank (TRK) 310 coupled tothe acquisition tank 308. Elements other than the tracking tank 310 maybe implemented conventionally so that the elements are merely and simplydescribed as follows. The on-chip LDO regulator 302 generates a requiredvoltage VCCreg for the DCO 1104 according to a voltage VCC. Theinductor/resistor set 304 includes inductors, switchable resistors, anda negative gm cell 3042, for setting current consumption and oscillationamplitudes of the DCO 1104, for improving common-mode rejection, and forreducing noises and spurs generated from grounds of the DCO 1104. ThePVT tank 306 is provided for compensating process/voltage/temperaturevariations. The acquisition tank 308 is provided for fast frequencyacquisition.

Primary characteristics of the DCO 1104 lie in the tracking tank 310.Before disclosing the tracking tank 310 in detail, a conventionaltracking tank is introduced herein for explaining advantages of thetracking tank 310. Please refer to FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7.FIG. 4 is a diagram of a cell 400 of a conventional tracking tank. FIG.5 is a plot of a voltage-frequency transfer curve related to the cell400 of the conventional tracking tank illustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is adetail diagram of a cell 600 of the tracking tank 310 illustrated inFIG. 3. FIG. 7 is a plot of a folded voltage-frequency transfer curverelated to the cell 600 of the tracking tank 310 illustrated in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cell 400 of the conventional tracking tankincludes an inverter 402, a first P-type MOSFET 404, a first N-typeMOSFET 406, a second P-type MOSFET 408, a second N-type MOSFET 410, athird N-type MOSFET 412, a fourth N-type MOSFET 414, a first capacitor416, a second capacitor 418, a first resistor 420, and a second resistor422. Couplings of the above-listed elements are shown on FIG. 4 so thatthe couplings are not described for brevity. The voltage VCCreg isinputted at both the resistors 420 and 422. A bit, which may be odd oreven for indicating a digital integer signal from the DCO decoder 1101,is inputted to a set including the first P-type MOSFET 404 and the firstN-type MOSFET 406. A SDM fractional signal, which may also be regardedas a primary voltage, from the SDM filter 1103 is inputted to a setincluding both the second P-type MOSFET 408 and the second N-type MOSFET410. A pair including a high output voltage Vo+ and a low output voltageVo− is outputted for indicating oscillations of the conventionaltracking tank. In brief, every time when a related integer signal isincremented by 1, the SDM fractional signal is decremented by 1 so thatan average of the SDM fractional signal stays below 1 (or near zero).However, since the inputted bit keeps on changing between 0 and 1, everytime when the integer signal is incremented by 1 instantly, a speed ofdecrementing the SDM fractional signal cannot catch up with theincrement of the integer signal. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, afrequency discontinuity happens while the integer value is incrementedfrom N to (N+1) since the SDM fractional signal cannot be adjusted (orbe accordingly decreased) to reach the Target, which is shown in FIG. 5,until the integer value (N+1) is reached.

The cell 600 of the tracking tank 310 is disclosed herein for solvingsuch discontinuity. The cell 600 splits operations of the odd and evenbits into two different sets, i.e., an odd set and an even set, so thatthe transfer curve shown in FIG. 7 is folded without a frequency jump,which indicates a procedure in reaching the Target after reaching theinteger value (N+1).

As shown in FIG. 6, the cell 600 includes a first set for handling theodd bit and a second set for handling the even bit. Note that in otherembodiments of the present invention, the first set may also be utilizedfor handling the even bit, whereas the second set is utilized forhandling the odd bit. The first set includes a first inverter 602, afirst digital module 603 for processing odd digital bits from the DCOdecoder 1101, a first analog module 605 for processing SDM fractionalsignals from the SDM filter 1103, and a first capacitance module 611 forbringing required capacitance to output voltages Vo+ and Vo−. The firstdigital module 603 includes a first P-type MOSFET 604 and a first N-typeMOSFET 606. The first analog module 605 includes a second P-type MOSFET608 and a second N-type MOSFET 610. The first capacitance module 611includes a third N-type MOSFET 612 and a fourth N-type MOSFET 614. Thefirst set further includes a first capacitor 616, a second capacitor618, a first resistor 620, and a second resistor 622. Note thatcomponents of the first digital module 603, the first analog module 605,and the first capacitance module 611 are not restricted by those shownin FIG. 6 in other embodiments of the present invention. The second setincludes a second inverter 652, a second digital module 653 forprocessing even digital bits from the DCO decoder 1101, a second analogmodule 655 for processing SDM fractional signals from the SDM filter1103, and a second capacitance module 661 for bringing requiredcapacitance to output voltages Vo+ and Vo−. The second digital module653 includes a third P-type MOSFET 654 and a fifth N-type MOSFET 656.The second analog module 655 includes a fourth P-type MOSFET 658 and asixth N-type MOSFET 660. The second capacitance module 661 includes aseventh N-type MOSFET 662 and an eighth N-type MOSFET 664. The secondset further includes a third capacitor 666, a fourth capacitor 668, athird resistor 670, and a fourth resistor 672.

The first inverter 602 has a positive terminal for receiving theselection signal SEL. The first P-type MOSFET 604 has a gate coupled tothe positive terminal of the first inverter 602, and a source forreceiving the odd bit. The first N-type MOSFET 606 has a drain coupledto the source of the first P-type MOSFET 604, and a source coupled to adrain of the first P-type MOSFET 604. The second P-type MOSFET 608 has agate coupled to both a negative terminal of the first inverter 602 and agate of the first N-type MOSFET 606. The second N-type MOSFET 610 has adrain coupled to a source of the second P-type MOSFET 608 for receivingsignals from a sigma-delta low-pass filter, to a drain of the secondP-type MOSFET 608, and to the source of the first N-type MOSFET 606, hasa source coupled to a drain of the second P-type MOSFET 608, and has agate coupled to the gate of the first P-type MOSFET 604. The thirdN-type MOSFET 612 has a source coupled to the source of the first N-typeMOSFET 606, and a drain coupled to the source of the third N-type MOSFET612. The fourth N-type MOSFET 614 has a drain coupled to the source ofthe third N-type MOSFET 612, and a source coupled to the drain of thethird N-type MOSFET 612. The first capacitor 616 has a first terminalcoupled to a gate of the third N-type MOSFET 612 and a second terminalfor outputting a first high output voltage. The second capacitor 618 hasa first terminal coupled to a gate of the fourth N-type MOSFET 614, anda second terminal for outputting a first low output voltage. The firstresistor 620 has a first terminal coupled to the first terminal of thefirst capacitor 616, and a second terminal for receiving the generatedrequired voltage from the LDO regulator. The second resistor 622 has afirst terminal coupled to the first terminal of the second capacitor618, and a second terminal for receiving the generated required voltagefrom the LDO regulator. The second set comprises a second inverter 652,a third P-type MOSFET 654, a fifth N-type MOSFET 656, a fourth P-typeMOSFET 658, a sixth N-type MOSFET 660, a seventh N-type MOSFET 662, aneighth N-type MOSFET 664, a third capacitor 666, a fourth capacitor 668,a third resistor 670, and a fourth resistor 672. The second inverter 652has a positive terminal for receiving the selection signal. The thirdP-type MOSFET 654 has a gate coupled to the positive terminal of thesecond inverter 652, and a source for receiving the even bit. The fifthN-type MOSFET 656 has a drain coupled to the source of the P-typeMOSFET, a source coupled to a drain of the third P-type MOSFET 654, anda gate coupled to a negative terminal of the second inverter 652. Thefourth P-type MOSFET 658 has a gate coupled to the gate of the fifthN-type MOSFET 656, a source for receiving signals from a sigma-deltalow-pass filter, and a drain coupled to the source of the fifth N-typeMOSFET 656. The sixth N-type MOSFET 660 has a drain coupled to thesource of the fourth P-type MOSFET 658, a source coupled to the drain ofthe fourth P-type MOSFET 658, and a gate coupled to the gate of thethird P-type MOSFET 654. The seventh N-type MOSFET 662 has a gatecoupled to the source of the fifth N-type MOSFET 656, a source, and adrain coupled to the source of the seventh N-type MOSFET 662. The eighthN-type MOSFET 664 has a gate coupled to the gate of the seventh N-typeMOSFET 662, a source, and a drain coupled to the source of the eighthN-type MOSFET 664. The third capacitor 666 has a first terminal coupledto the drain of the seventh N-type MOSFET 662, and a second terminal foroutputting a second high voltage. The fourth capacitor 668 has a firstterminal coupled to the drain of the eighth N-type MOSFET 664, and asecond terminal for outputting a second low voltage. The third resistor670 has a first terminal coupled to the first terminal of the thirdcapacitor 666, and a second terminal for receiving the generatedrequired voltage of the LDO regulator. The fourth resistor 672 has afirst terminal coupled to the first terminal of the fourth capacitor668, and a second terminal for receiving the generated required voltageof the LDO regulator. Both the first high output voltage and the firstlow output voltage indicate oscillations in the odd bit of the trackingtank. Both the second high output voltage and the second low outputvoltage indicate oscillations in the even bit of the tracking tank.

The negative gm cell 3042 feeds control signals into each the cell 600for bringing required positive feedback in stabilizing oscillations inthe output voltages Vo+ and Vo−. With predetermined control signals atthe nodes SEL and b shown in FIG. 6 and the inverter 602 (or theinverter 652), at one time, merely one among the first digital module603 and the first analog module 605 (or merely one among the seconddigital module 653 and the second analog module 655) is switched on,i.e., control voltage parity is brought herein. Therefore, operationsrelated to integer signals and fractional signals may be separated andindependent for fulfilling the mechanism shown in FIG. 7. Note thatcompositions and components of the negative gm cell 3042 are notrestricted as shown in FIG. 3.

Note that a capacitance generated from the first capacitance module 611has to be opposite to a capacitance generated from the secondcapacitance module 661 respectively for the odd and even bits, and suchan opposition lead to two mutually-inverse curves corresponding tooutput voltages Vo+ and Vo− of both the first set and the second set. Asshown in FIG. 7, while the integer value is incremented by 1, the curvegoes on a reverse path with respect to the curve shown in FIG. 5 so thatthe frequency discontinuity is eliminated. As a result, undesired spursdisappear as well, and a related phase is thus continuously locked.

Then turn to the subject of digital loop bandwidth calibration of theADPLL 100 (or 200). For explaining digital loop bandwidth calibration ofthe ADPLL 100, a simplified diagram of the ADPLL 100 has to beillustrated in advance. Please refer to FIG. 8, which is a simplifieddiagram of the ADPLL 100 shown in FIG. 1 for explaining the digital loopbandwidth calibration of said ADPLL 100. Note that the ADPLL 100 may beregarded as a high-resolution frequency-to-digital converter (FDC) atthis time. A key to implement the digital loop bandwidth calibration isto calibrate the value of the gain a since other related variables arecontrollable, where the point will be proved later. A definition of theloop bandwidth is a proportional path gain of the proportional pathmodule 106 multiplied by

$\frac{Fref}{2\;\pi}.$Therefore, the proportional path gain Pgain may be represented asfollows:

$\begin{matrix}{{P\;{gain}} = \frac{B\;{W \cdot 2}\;\pi}{Fref}} & (9)\end{matrix}$where the term BW indicates the loop bandwidth of the ADPLL 100. Byobserving the simplified diagram shown in FIG. 8, the proportional pathgain Pgain may also be represented as:

$\begin{matrix}{{P\;{gain}} = {{\frac{1}{T\; D\; C} \cdot a \cdot D}\; C\;{O \cdot \frac{1}{M} \cdot \frac{1}{{Fref}^{2}}}}} & (10)\end{matrix}$Definitions of variables in the equation (10) are the same with theabovementioned functions so that the definitions are not describedrepeatedly. The term

$\frac{1}{T\; D\; C}$indicates a variance of codes from the PFD/CTDC module 1021 in unittime. The gain a of the PPM amplifier 106 is regarded as a gain of thedigital low-pass filter 108 at this time. Note that the term

$\frac{1}{T\; D\; C} \cdot a$indicates a variance of codes at the output terminal of the digitallow-pass filter 108, i.e., a code variance ΔI shown in FIG. 8. The term

${\frac{1}{T\; D\; C} \cdot a \cdot D}\; C\; O$indicates a frequency variance Δf_(c) resulted from the variance ofcodes, i.e., the code variance ΔI. The term

${\frac{1}{T\; D\; C} \cdot a \cdot D}\; C\;{O \cdot \frac{1}{M}}$indicates the frequency variance Δf divided by the dividing ratio M ofthe second frequency divider 122. At last, note that the proportionalpath gain Pgain indicates a time drift Δt_(c) resulted by a codevariance with respect to a unit time. A reference period

${Tref} = \frac{1}{Fref}$is also noted so that the following equation is satisfied:

$\begin{matrix}{\frac{\Delta\; t_{c}}{Tref} = \frac{\Delta\; f_{c}}{Fref}} & (11)\end{matrix}$The time drift Δt_(c) may be inducted as:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{P\;{gain}} = {\Delta\; t_{c}}} \\{= {\frac{\Delta\; f_{c}}{Fref} \cdot \frac{1}{Fref}}} \\{= {\frac{\Delta\; f}{M} \cdot \frac{1}{{Fref}^{2}}}} \\{= \frac{\Delta\; f_{c}}{{Fref}^{2}}} \\{= {{\frac{1}{TDC} \cdot a \cdot D}\; C\;{O \cdot \frac{1}{M} \cdot \frac{1}{{Fref}^{2}}}}}\end{matrix} & (12)\end{matrix}$The equation (12) explains how the equation (10) is inducted. Note thatthe gain DCO may also be referred as the gain Kv. By combining theequation (9) and (10), and refer to both the equations (6) and (8), thegain a may be inducted with the follow equations:

$\begin{matrix}{{{\frac{1}{TDC} \cdot a \cdot {Kv} \cdot \frac{1}{M} \cdot \frac{1}{{Fref}^{2}}} = {{P\;{gain}} = \frac{B\;{W \cdot 2}\;\pi}{Fref}}}{and}} & (13) \\{a = {\frac{T\; D\;{C \cdot M \cdot {Fref}^{2} \cdot B}\;{W \cdot 2}\;\pi}{{Kv} \cdot {Fref}} = {\frac{T\; D\;{C \cdot M \cdot {Fref} \cdot B}\;{W \cdot 2}\;\pi}{Kv}\mspace{14mu} = {{{\frac{1}{2\;{{Fref} \cdot N_{1}}} \cdot M \cdot {Fref} \cdot B}\;{W \cdot 2}\;{\pi \cdot \frac{\Delta\; I}{\Delta\;{N \cdot {Fref}}}}}\mspace{14mu} = \frac{\Delta\;{I \cdot M \cdot B}\;{W \cdot 2}\;\pi}{2\;{N_{1} \cdot {Fref} \cdot \Delta}\; N}}}}} & (14)\end{matrix}$Variables related to the gain a in the equation (14) have been provedabove to be controllable so that the gain a is controllable as well. Inother words, by adjusting the value of the gain a according to theequation (14), the loop bandwidth calibration of the ADPLL 100 isfeasible.

In FIG. 1, the error compensation signal Error is generated from the SDMcompensation module 114 for compensating possible errors from the TDCmodule 102 and the TDC decoder 1022. The error compensation signal isprimarily based on fractional phase errors. Please refer to FIG. 9,which is a simplified diagram in explaining how conventional fractionalphase errors of a conventional analog PLL are compensated. In FIG. 9,folded edges indicate clock edges, and a fractional phase error may beindicated as a difference between an actual clock position N+e(n), whichis generated from a SDM, and an ideal clock position N+aa, where e(n) isan integer, and aa is a fractional number. Therefore, a correspondingfractional phase error phase_error generated from a phase frequencydetector (PFD) may be represented as:phase_error=[N+e(n)−(N+aa)]·T _(VCO) =[e(n)−aa]·T _(VCO)  (15)The term T_(VCO) indicates a period of a VCO since the equation (15) isinducted according to an analog PLL and roughly equals

$\frac{1}{{Fref} \cdot \left( {N + a} \right)}.$An accumulated compensation error compensation_error may thus be derivedby accumulating the corresponding fractional phase error phase_error andbe derived as:compensation_error=Σ[e(n)−aa]T _(VCO)  (16)By using a TDC, the compensation error may be quantized as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{compensation\_ error} = {{\sum{{\left\lbrack {{e(n)} - {aa}} \right\rbrack \cdot {T_{V\; C\; O}/T}}\; D\; C}} \approx {\sum{\left\lbrack {{e(n)} - {aa}} \right\rbrack/\left\lbrack {T\; D\;{C \cdot {Fref} \cdot \left( {N + a} \right)}} \right\rbrack}}}} & (17)\end{matrix}$However, using a TDC may cause a code variance, for example, N₁, as wellas a large number of delay lines in the TDC, and take large circuit areaand power also. Therefore, a cyclic TDC is proposed in the presentinvention and disposed within the PFD/CTDC module 1021 for significantlysaving many taps of delay lines. The disclosure of the CTDC will bedescribed later. Moreover, in the ADPLL 100 of the present invention, aDCO 1104 is used for replacing the conventional VCO. The differencebetween the actual clock position N+e(n) and the ideal clock positionN+aa may be derived with the aid of the SDM 1121 so that the differencemay be denoted as e_(ΔΣ), which is in fact a quantization error.According to an error compensation algorithm used in the presentinvention, the compensation error e_(CTDC)[k] of the cyclic TDC withinthe PDF/CTDC module 1021 may be indicated as:

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{e_{C\; T\; D\; C}\lbrack k\rbrack} = {\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{k - 1}{e_{\Delta\;\Sigma} \cdot \frac{T_{D\; C\; O}}{T\; D\; C}}}} \\{= {\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{k - 1}{e_{\Delta\;\Sigma} \cdot \frac{1}{T\; D\;{C \cdot {Fref} \cdot \left( {I + F} \right)}}}}} \\{= {\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{k - 1}{e_{\Delta\;\Sigma} \cdot \frac{\Delta\; N}{\Delta\;{t \cdot {Fref} \cdot \left( {I + F} \right)}}}}} \\{= {\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{k - 1}{e_{\Delta\;\Sigma} \cdot \frac{2\;{{Fref} \cdot \Delta}\; N}{{Fref} \cdot \left( {I + F} \right)}}}} \\{= {\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{k - 1}{e_{\Delta\;\Sigma} \cdot \frac{{2 \cdot \Delta}\; N}{\left( {I + F} \right)}}}}\end{matrix} & (18)\end{matrix}$where the term I occupies the same definition as N. T_(DCO) is a periodof the DCO 1104. As can be observed from the equation (18), thecompensation error e_(CTDC)[k] of the cyclic TDC may be completelycontrollable and digital so as to be used in the digital phase errorcancellation. Please refer to FIG. 10, which is a diagram of a digitalphase error cancellation module 1144 further included in the SDMcompensation module 114 according to a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention. The digital phase error cancellation module 1144 isbased on the equation (18). The digital phase error cancellation module1144 includes a SDM 702, a first adder 704, a second adder 706, a firstD flip-flop (DFF) 708, a second D flip-flop 710, a divider 712, amultiplier 714, and a DFF/Truncation module 716. The SDM 702 isimplemented with a multi stage noise shaping (MASH) 1-1-1 modulatorhaving first order modulators. An obvious benefit in using a MASH n-1-1modulator having an n-th order modulator and all other first ordermodulators lies in the fact that coefficient mismatches are less sincemost noises are easily cancelled inside. The SDM 702, the first adder704, the second adder 706, and the first DFF 708 are utilized forgenerating the quantization error e_(ΔΣ). The second DFF 710 and thesecond divider 712 are utilized for generating the term

$\frac{{2 \cdot \Delta}\; N}{\left( {I + F} \right)}.$The compensation error e_(CTDC)[k] is outputted to the first adder 104at last.

A specific technique of the present invention is also used in the TDCdecoder 1022. In this technique, an error protection code is furtheradded into the output signal TDC of the TDC decoder 1022 for raisingprecision of the output signal TDC. Assume inputs of the TDC decoder1022 include a digital code D[0:2^(m)−1] having 2^(m) bits, and a cyclecode C[0:(m−1)] having m bits, where m is a positive integer. In apreferred embodiment of the present invention, the value of the positiveinteger m is 5 so that the cycle code C has 5 bits, and so that thedigital code D has 32 bits. In a simplest way, an error protection codeerr_protect is generated by performing an exclusive-or operation on alast bit of the digital code D and a first bit of the cycle code C.Therefore, the error protection code err_protect may be represented as:err_protect=XOR(D[2^(m)−1],C[0])  (19)In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an output signalTDC[0:2(m−1)+1] of the TDC decoder 1022 having 10 bits may also beindicated as:TDC[0:2(m−1)+1]=(C[0:(m−1)]+err_protect)*2^(m)+output1[0:(m−1)]  (20)Note that the term output1 indicates a decoding signal of the TDCdecoder 1022 for indicating how many bits 0 or bits 1 in the digitalcode D. By adding the error protection code (or bit) into the cycle codeC, and by raising the cycle code C by m bits (since the multiplier is2^(m)), the precision of the output signal TDC of the TDC decoder 1022is significantly raised.

Please refer to FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG. 13. FIG. 11 illustrates asimplified diagram of the PFD/CTDC module 1021 shown in FIG. 1 alongwith the TDC decoder 1022 and the first adder 104 shown in FIG. 1 whilethe loop gain calibration described in FIG. 8 is performed. FIG. 12illustrates a schematic diagram of a cyclic time-to-digital converter(CTDC) used in FIG. 11. FIG. 13 illustrates a CTDC calibration procedurerelated to both FIG. 11 and FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 11, the PFD/CTDC module 1021 includes a multiplexer10211, a phase-frequency detector (PFD) 10212, a logic unit 10213, aCTDC 10214, and a TDC calibration controller 10215. The multiplexer10211 is utilized for receiving the reference signal REF and thefeedback signal FB shown in FIG. 1. The PFD 10212 receives two outputsignals A and B from the multiplexer 10211, where both the outputsignals A and B correspond to the reference signal REF or the feedbacksignal FB. The PFD 10212 also outputs a frequency-raising signal Up anda frequency-lowering signal Dn for raising or lowering a frequency ofthe output signal TDC of the TDC decoder 1022, as described in FIG. 1.The logic unit 10213 receives both the frequency-raising signal Up andthe frequency-lowering signal Dn, and issues an activating signal Startor a deactivating signal Stop for activating or deactivating the CTDC10214 at any time. The logic unit 10213 also outputs the sign signal Lagto the TDC decoder 1022. The CTDC 10214 generates the data signal Dcorresponding to D flip-flops within and the cycle signal Ccorresponding to a utilized cycle within. The TDC calibration controller10215 generates a calculated offset signal Offset according to theoutput signal TDC, and generates the code variance ΔN.

As shown in FIG. 12, the CTDC 10214 includes a cycle module 102146 and adata module 102148. The cycle module 102146 includes a double-edgedetector 102141 and an N-bit up counter 102142, and generates the cyclesignal C of the PFD/TDC module 102. The data module 102148 includes afirst D flip-flop array set 102143, a second D flip-flop array set102144, and a cyclic buffer array 102145, and generates the data signalD of the PFD/TDC module 102. The double-edge detector 102141 receivestriggering signals Trig+ and Trig− within the data module 102148 fordetecting a rising edge or a falling edge. Whenever the double-edgedetector 102141 receives the triggering signal Trig+ or the triggeringsignal Trig− from the data module 102148, a count of the N-bitup-counter 102142 is incremented. Each time when the count of the N-bitup-counter 102142 exceeds a predetermined number, a new cycle isinitiated in the N-bit up-counter 102142 begins whereas an old cycleends. At this time, a number for recording a current cycle of the N-bitup-counter 102142 is outputted in the form of the cycle signal C. In apreferred embodiment of the present invention, a number of bits withinthe cycle signal C is 5. The first D flip-flop array 102143, the secondD flip-flop array 102144, and the cyclic buffer array 102145 togetherforms a cyclic structure. Note that the cyclic buffer array 102145includes a plurality of delay line buffers Binv connected in series, andan input terminal of a first delay line buffer within the plurality ofdelay line buffers Binv is coupled to an output terminal of a last delayline buffer within the plurality of delay line buffers Binv. In apreferred embodiment of the present invention, a number of the pluralityof delay line buffers Binv is 32, i.e. the delay line buffers Binv0,Binv1, Binv2, . . . , Binv30, and Binv31 illustrated in FIG. 12; and theplurality of delay line buffers Binv is implemented with inverters orother logic units appropriate for implementing delay line taps. Thefirst D flip-flop array 102143 cooperates with a front half of theplurality of delay line buffers Binv, and the second D flip-flop array102144 cooperates with a rear half of the plurality of delay linebuffers Binv. When the number of the plurality of delay line buffersBinv is 32, the first D flip-flop array 102143 outputs a first half ofthe data signal D with 16 bits, whereas the second D flip-flop array102144 outputs a second half of the data signal with 16 bits.

As shown in FIG. 13, a calibration procedure of the CTDC 10214 forcalibrating the loop gain of the ADPLL 100 or 200 is described.

In Step 1302, an offset calibration is performed by assigning inputsignals A and B with the reference signal REF respectively by directlymanipulating the multiplexer 10211. Moreover, an offset signal Offsetfrom the TDC calibration controller 10215 is also assigned as a predictsignal TDC_pre from the TDC decoder 1022. Note that the predict signalTDC_pre includes information of the feedback signal FB so that apredicted error in the signal TDC may be compensated in advance with theaid of the first adder 104. At this time, the signal TDC should be logic0, and the offset calibration is completed.

In Step 1304, a normalization procedure is performed by keeping theinput signal A as the reference signal REF and re-assigning the inputsignal B as an inverse REFB of the reference signal REF, i.e. padding abar for indicating the inverse of the reference signal REFB. At thistime, the abovementioned fractional code variance ΔN is generated fromthe TDC calibration controller 10215 in a form of a TDC predict offsetsignal TDC_pre-Offset for performing the normalization of the ADPLL 100or 200 during the loop gain calibration.

In Step 1306, a normal operation is performed while the ADPLL 100 or 200is also under normal operations. At this time, the input signal A isstill kept as the reference signal REF, and the input signal B isre-assigned as the feedback signal FB for measuring properties of anewly outputted signal from the DCO/SDM module 110 in a next delay.

By defining a proportional path gain of an ADPLL by a bandwidth and areference frequency of the ADPLL, and by a TDC gain, a DCO gain, adividing ratio of a frequency divider, and a gain of an amplifier, thegain of the amplifier may be adjusted so that an optimal loop bandwidthof the ADPLL may be well calibrated. For achieving the aim of entirelydigital of the ADPLL, the gains of the TDC and the DCO are furtheradjusted in a digital manner.

With the aid of the ADPLL and other related components or methodsdisclosed in the present invention, defects in a conventional analogphase-locked loop may be removed since all components and operations inthe disclosed ADPLL are digital. Moreover, with the aid of the preciseloop gain calibration method used in the disclosed ADPLL of the presentinvention, an available bandwidth of the ADPLL is significantlybroadened since an all-pass frequency response is retrieved.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

1. An all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) comprising: a digital macromodule for receiving signals carrying phase information and frequencyinformation related to a feedback signal, the digital macro modulecomprises: a digital loop filter, comprising a proportional path moduleand a digital low-pass filter, for generating an integer signal and afractional signal; and a sigma-delta modulator (SDM) compensation modulefor predicting errors and for inputting the predicted errors into thedigital loop filter; a modulator across the digital loop filter,comprising: a first accumulator having an input terminal for receiving amodulation signal; an accumulator (ACC) amplifier having an inputterminal coupled to an output terminal of the first accumulator and anoutput terminal coupled to an input terminal of the digital loop filter;and a modulator (MOD) amplifier having an input terminal for receivingthe modulation signal and an output terminal coupled to an outputterminal of the digital loop filter; and a feedback path module, coupledbetween the output terminal of the digital loop filter and the inputterminal of the digital loop filter, comprising: a second SDM; and afrequency divider for cooperating with the second SDM; wherein the ADPLLis used for direct-frequency modulation (DFM).
 2. The ADPLL of claim 1further comprising: a time-to-digital converter (TDC) module forreceiving a reference signal and a feedback signal, and for outputtingthe signals carrying phase information and frequency information relatedto the received feedback signal, the TDC module comprising: aphase-frequency detector/cyclic time-to-digital converter (PFD/CTDC)module for generating the outputted signals carrying phase informationand frequency information related to the feedback signal and foroutputting a clock signal; and a TDC state machine for generating adivisor signal.
 3. The ADPLL of claim 2 further comprising: adigital-controlled oscillator (DCO)/sigma-delta modulator (SDM) modulefor modulating both the integer signal and the fractional signal, theDCO/SDM module comprises: a DCO decoder having a first input terminalfor receiving the integer signal; a first SDM having a first inputterminal for receiving the fractional signal; a SDM filter having aninput terminal coupled to an output terminal of the first SDM; a DCOhaving a first input terminal coupled to an output terminal of the DCOdecoder, and a second input terminal coupled to an output terminal ofthe SDM filter; and a frequency divider having an input terminal coupledto an output terminal of the DCO, and an output terminal coupled to botha second input terminal of the DCO decoder and a second input terminalof the first SDM; wherein the SDM compensation module further comprises:a second accumulator; and a SDM compensation module (SDMCM) amplifier;wherein the proportional path module in the digital loop filter tracksvariation of the phase related to the outputted signals of the TDCmodule; and the digital low-pass filter in the digital loop filtertracks long-term frequency drifts related to the outputted signals ofthe TDC module; wherein a first loop passing through the DCO decoder,the DCO, and the frequency divider is responsible for modulating theinteger signal; wherein a second loop passing through the first SDM, theSDM filter, the DCO, and the frequency divider is responsible formodulating the fractional signal; wherein the SDM compensation module isutilized for predicting errors of a signal outputted from the DCO/SDMmodule, and for inputting the predicted errors into the digital macromodule in a feed-forward manner; wherein the clock signal outputted fromthe TDC module is for manipulating a built-in clock of the digital macromodule; and wherein the divisor signal generated from the TDC statemachine is used for carrying divisor-related information to the digitalmacro module.
 4. The ADPLL of claim 3, wherein: the feedback path moduleis used for cooperating with the SDM compensation module.
 5. The ADPLLof claim 3 wherein the digital macro module further comprises: a TDCdecoder for decoding the outputted signals carrying phase informationand frequency information of the feedback signal, and for generating anoutput signal according to the decoded outputted signals carrying phaseinformation and frequency information of the feedback signal; a firstadder for adding the output signal of the TDC decoder with an errorcompensation signal, a self-test signal, and a sign signal; and a secondadder for adding a phase-tracked signal from the proportional pathmodule with a long-term-frequency-drift-tracked signal from the digitallow-pass filter, and for generating the integer signal and thefractional signal of the digital macro module respectively; wherein theerror compensation signal includes predicted errors of the SDMcompensation module; wherein the self-test signal and the sign signalcarry information about whether to raise or lower a frequency of thesignal outputted from the DCO/SDM module; wherein the output terminal ofthe ACC amplifier is coupled to the first adder; wherein the outputterminal of the MOD amplifier is coupled to the second adder; andwherein the modulation signal is inputted into both the first adder andthe second adder respectively through the ACC amplifier and the MODamplifier in a feed-forward manner.
 6. The ADPLL of claim 4 wherein thefrequency divider of the feedback path module divides the frequency ofthe signal outputted from the DCO/SDM module.
 7. The ADPLL of claim 6wherein the SDM compensation module further comprises an adder having apositive input terminal coupled to an input terminal of the second SDMof the feedback path module, a negative input terminal coupled to anoutput terminal of the second SDM of the feedback path module, and anoutput terminal coupled to an input terminal of the second accumulator.8. The ADPLL of claim 3 wherein a gain of both the SDMCM amplifier andthe ACC amplifier is modulated as:$b = {\frac{2\; N_{1}}{M} \cdot \frac{1}{Fref}}$ wherein b is the gainof both the SDMCM amplifier and the ACC amplifier; N₁ is a code variancecorresponding to a half of a reference period Tref of the referencesignal received by the TDC module; $\frac{1}{M}$ is a response of thefirst frequency divider; Fref is a reference frequency of the referencesignal received by the TDC module.
 9. The ADPLL of claim 3 wherein again of the MOD amplifier is modulated as:$c = \frac{\Delta\; I}{\Delta\;{N \cdot {Fref}}}$ wherein c is the gainof the MOD amplifier; ΔN·Fref indicates a frequency variance in theinput terminal of the second SDM; ΔI indicates a code variancecorresponding to the frequency variance ΔN·Fref, and is retrieved at theoutput signal of the digital low-pass filter; ΔN indicates a fractionalcode variance; Fref is a reference frequency of the reference signalreceived by the TDC module.
 10. An all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL)comprising: a digital macro module for receiving signals carrying phaseinformation and frequency information related to a feedback signal, thedigital macro module comprising: a digital loop filter for receiving aninput signal, comprising a proportional path module and a digitallow-pass filter, for generating an integer signal and a fractionalsignal; and a sigma-delta modulator (SDM) compensation module forpredicting errors of the input signal and for inputting the predictederrors into the digital loop filter; a modulator across the digital loopfilter, comprising: a first accumulator having an input terminal forreceiving a modulation signal; an accumulator (ACC) amplifier having aninput terminal coupled to an output terminal of the first accumulatorand an output terminal coupled to an input terminal of the digital loopfilter; and a modulator (MOD) amplifier having an input terminal forreceiving the modulation signal and an output terminal coupled to anoutput terminal of the digital loop filter; and a digital-controlledoscillator (DCO)/sigma-delta modulator (SDM) module for modulating boththe integer signal and the fractional signal; wherein the ADPLL is usedfor direct-frequency modulation (DFM).
 11. The ADPLL of claim 10 furthercomprising: a time-to-digital converter (TDC) module for receiving areference signal and the feedback signal, and for outputting the signalscarrying phase information and frequency information related to thereceived feedback signal, the TDC module comprising: a phase-frequencydetector/cyclic time-to-digital converter (PFD/CTDC) module forgenerating the outputted signals carrying phase information andfrequency information related to the feedback signal and for outputtinga clock signal; a TDC state machine for generating a divisor signal. 12.The ADPLL of claim 11 wherein the DCO/SDM module comprises: a DCOdecoder having a first input terminal for receiving the integer signal;a first SDM having a first input terminal for receiving the fractionalsignal; a SDM filter having an input terminal coupled to an outputterminal of the first SDM; a DCO having a first input terminal coupledto an output terminal of the DCO decoder, and a second input terminalcoupled to an output terminal of the SDM filter; and a frequency dividerhaving an input terminal coupled to an output terminal of the DCO, andan output terminal coupled to both a second input terminal of the DCOdecoder and a second input terminal of the first SDM; wherein the SDMcompensation module comprises: a second accumulator; and a SDMcompensation module (SDMCM) amplifier; wherein the proportional pathmodule in the digital loop filter tracks variation of the phase relatedto the outputted signals of the TDC module; and the digital low-passfilter in the digital loop filter tracks long-term frequency driftsrelated to the outputted signals of the TDC module; wherein a first looppassing through the DCO decoder, the DCO, and the frequency divider isresponsible for modulating the integer signal; wherein a second looppassing through the first SDM, the SDM filter, the DCO, and thefrequency divider is responsible for modulating the fractional signal;wherein the SDM compensation module is utilized for predicting errors ofa signal outputted from the DCO/SDM module, and for inputting thepredicted errors into the digital macro module in a feed-forward manner;wherein the clock signal outputted from the TDC module is formanipulating a built-in clock of the digital macro module; and whereinthe divisor signal generated from the TDC state machine is used forcarrying divisor-related information to the digital macro module. 13.The ADPLL of claim 12 further comprises: a feedback path module forcooperating with the SDM compensation module, wherein the feedback pathmodule comprises: a second SDM; and a frequency divider for dividing thefrequency of a signal outputted from the DCO/SDM module, and forcooperating with the second SDM, the SDM compensation module furthercomprises an adder having a positive input terminal coupled to an inputterminal of the second SDM of the feedback path module, a negative inputterminal coupled to an output terminal of the second SDM of the feedbackpath module, and an output terminal coupled to an input terminal of thesecond accumulator.
 14. The ADPLL of claim 12 wherein the digital macromodule further comprises: a TDC decoder for decoding the outputtedsignals carrying phase information and frequency information of thefeedback signal, and for generating an output signal according to thedecoded outputted signals carrying phase information and frequencyinformation of the feedback signal; a first adder for adding the outputsignal of the TDC decoder with an error compensation signal, a self-testsignal, and a sign signal; and a second adder for adding a phase-trackedsignal from the proportional path module with along-term-frequency-drift-tracked signal from the digital low-passfilter, and for generating the integer signal and the fractional signalof the digital macro module respectively; wherein the error compensationsignal includes predicted errors of the SDM compensation module; whereinthe self-test signal and the sign signal carry information about whetherto raise or lower a frequency of the signal outputted from the DCO/SDMmodule; wherein the output terminal of the ACC amplifier is coupled tothe first adder; wherein the output terminal of the MOD amplifier iscoupled to the second adder; and wherein the modulation signal isinputted into both the first adder and the second adder respectivelythrough the ACC amplifier and the MOD amplifier in a feed-forwardmanner.
 15. An all-digital phase-locked loop (ADPLL) comprising: adigital macro module for receiving signals carrying phase informationand frequency information related to a feedback signal, the digitalmacro module comprising: a digital loop filter, comprising aproportional path module and a digital low-pass filter, for generatingan integer signal and a fractional signal; and a sigma-delta modulator(SDM) compensation module for predicting errors and for inputting thepredicted errors into the digital loop filter; and a modulator acrossthe digital loop filter, comprising: a first accumulator having an inputterminal for receiving a modulation signal; an accumulator (ACC)amplifier having an input terminal coupled to an output terminal of thefirst accumulator and an output terminal coupled to an input terminal ofthe digital loop filter; and a modulator (MOD) amplifier having an inputterminal for receiving the modulation signal and an output terminalcoupled to an output terminal of the digital loop filter; wherein thegain of the accumulator (ACC) amplifier and the gain of the modulator(MOD) amplifier are adjusted dependently.
 16. The ADPLL of claim 15further comprising: a time-to-digital converter (TDC) module forreceiving a reference signal and a feedback signal, and for outputtingthe signals carrying phase information and frequency information relatedto the received feedback signal, the TDC module comprising: aphase-frequency detector/cyclic time-to-digital converter (PFD/CTDC)module for generating the outputted signals carrying phase informationand frequency information related to the feedback signal and foroutputting a clock signal; a TDC state machine for generating a divisorsignal.
 17. The ADPLL of claim 16 further comprising: adigital-controlled oscillator (DCO)/sigma-delta modulator (SDM) modulefor modulating both the integer signal and the fractional signal, theDCO/SDM module comprises: a DCO decoder having a first input terminalfor receiving the integer signal; a first SDM having a first inputterminal for receiving the fractional signal; a SDM filter having aninput terminal coupled to an output terminal of the first SDM; a DCOhaving a first input terminal coupled to an output terminal of the DCOdecoder, and a second input terminal coupled to an output terminal ofthe SDM filter; and a frequency divider having an input terminal coupledto an output terminal of the DCO, and an output terminal coupled to botha second input terminal of the DCO decoder and a second input terminalof the first SDM; wherein the SDM compensation module further comprises:a second accumulator; and a SDM compensation module (SDMCM) amplifier;wherein the proportional path module in the digital loop filter tracksvariation of the phase related to the outputted signals of the TDCmodule; and the digital low-pass filter in the digital loop filtertracks long-term frequency drifts related to the outputted signals ofthe TDC module; wherein a first loop passing through the DCO decoder,the DCO, and the frequency divider is responsible for modulating theinteger signal; wherein a second loop passing through the first SDM, theSDM filter, the DCO, and the frequency divider is responsible formodulating the fractional signal; wherein the SDM compensation module isutilized for predicting errors of a signal outputted from the DCO/SDMmodule, and for inputting the predicted errors into the digital macromodule in a feed-forward manner; wherein the clock signal outputted fromthe TDC module is for manipulating a built-in clock of the digital macromodule; and wherein the divisor signal generated from the TDC statemachine is used for carrying divisor-related information to the digitalmacro module.
 18. The ADPLL of claim 17 further comprises: a feedbackpath module for cooperating with the SDM compensation module, whereinthe feedback path module comprises: a second SDM; and a frequencydivider for dividing the frequency of a signal outputted from theDCO/SDM module, and for cooperating with the second SDM, wherein the SDMcompensation module further comprises an adder having a positive inputterminal coupled to an input terminal of the second SDM of the feedbackpath module, a negative input terminal coupled to an output terminal ofthe second SDM of the feedback path module, and an output terminalcoupled to an input terminal of the second accumulator.
 19. The ADPLL ofclaim 17 wherein the digital macro module further comprises: a TDCdecoder for decoding the outputted signals carrying phase informationand frequency information of the feedback signal, and for generating anoutput signal according to the decoded outputted signals carrying phaseinformation and frequency information of the feedback signal; a firstadder for adding the output signal of the TDC decoder with an errorcompensation signal, a self-test signal, and a sign signal; and a secondadder for adding a phase-tracked signal from the proportional pathmodule with a long-term-frequency-drift-tracked signal from the digitallow-pass filter, and for generating the integer signal and thefractional signal of the digital macro module respectively; wherein theerror compensation signal includes predicted errors of the SDMcompensation module; wherein the self-test signal and the sign signalcarry information about whether to raise or lower a frequency of thesignal outputted from the DCO/SDM module; wherein the output terminal ofthe ACC amplifier is coupled to the first adder; wherein the outputterminal of the MOD amplifier is coupled to the second adder; andwherein the modulation signal is inputted into both the first adder andthe second adder respectively through the ACC amplifier and the MODamplifier in a feed-forward manner.